My JX AWD was in the shop to fix a rear-hatch rattle for two weeks. To cover the downtime, my dealership provided a white outside/black inside base 2014 QX60 loaner with nearly 14K miles. Throughout the two weeks I covered nearly 1,000 miles and spent nearly 24-hours behind the wheel. Over the course of the two weeks I noticed a number of differences, surprising since I would have figured the two vehicles would have been the same:
- The QX rear hatch beeps three times, then begins to rise or lower. The beeping stops when the door is rising or lowering versus the content beeping emitted from the JX. The QX seems better executed.
- QX brakes seem less grabby and "soft", and better executed than the JX. I had to "re-train" myself after getting my JX back, and had to endure the passenger yelling to stop slamming on the brakes.
- I didn't notice any noise difference between my JX 20" and the QX 18"
- Pickup and overall driving dynamics seemed exactly the same
- Over the course of the two weeks I didn't notice any fuel mileage difference between the JX and the QX, even though my JX is AWD versus the QX FWD with the new tranny. I was assuming the QX base would have seen a 3 or 4 MPG improvement.
- The base QX center display is extremely sub-par. It's not-touch screen and the OS was pulled from last-generation. Navigation through the menus is tedious and less intuitive. I consider myself fairly tech-savvy but was unable to find the phone-paring capability. The steering wheel had a "phone" button, and kept saying "Phone not connected", but would never show me where to connect. Side note, I never pulled out the manual.
- The QX's driver seat belt had a very thick non-slip mechanism built into the latch. I'm not sure if this is specific to the "base" model or on all QX's. The non-slip functionality makes it very difficult to move around the seat when belted.
- The QX's sport mode simulated shifts seem to slow the vehicle down. I don't recall this being a problem on my JX, and possibly the result of me pushing the loaner a bit harder. Nevertheless, it was noticeable.
Let me know if you're experiences are any different.
- The QX rear hatch beeps three times, then begins to rise or lower. The beeping stops when the door is rising or lowering versus the content beeping emitted from the JX. The QX seems better executed.
- QX brakes seem less grabby and "soft", and better executed than the JX. I had to "re-train" myself after getting my JX back, and had to endure the passenger yelling to stop slamming on the brakes.
- I didn't notice any noise difference between my JX 20" and the QX 18"
- Pickup and overall driving dynamics seemed exactly the same
- Over the course of the two weeks I didn't notice any fuel mileage difference between the JX and the QX, even though my JX is AWD versus the QX FWD with the new tranny. I was assuming the QX base would have seen a 3 or 4 MPG improvement.
- The base QX center display is extremely sub-par. It's not-touch screen and the OS was pulled from last-generation. Navigation through the menus is tedious and less intuitive. I consider myself fairly tech-savvy but was unable to find the phone-paring capability. The steering wheel had a "phone" button, and kept saying "Phone not connected", but would never show me where to connect. Side note, I never pulled out the manual.
- The QX's driver seat belt had a very thick non-slip mechanism built into the latch. I'm not sure if this is specific to the "base" model or on all QX's. The non-slip functionality makes it very difficult to move around the seat when belted.
- The QX's sport mode simulated shifts seem to slow the vehicle down. I don't recall this being a problem on my JX, and possibly the result of me pushing the loaner a bit harder. Nevertheless, it was noticeable.
Let me know if you're experiences are any different.